Texas State History - Grade 4 - Mexican Independence, Mexican Texas & Empresarios - Week 7 Full Curriculum

Teach how Mexican independence changed government in Texas and how colonization laws, empresario contracts, surveys, and land titles turned policy into new communities. Students compare Stephen F. Austin’s San Felipe colony with Martín de León’s Victoria colony, use maps and historical evidence, and explain both economic opportunities and serious human costs.

This Week 7 resource coordinates the interactive Dynamic History module with Standard and Accessible print alternatives, the What Is an Empresario? Empresario Series Part 1 video evidence worksheet, the complete The Empresario System in Texas (1821–1835) Readers Theater Student Script, and complete Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5 assessments. Teachers can use the full five-day sequence or select individual components to fit their schedule.

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What students practice

• Independence and government change: connect Mexico’s 1821 independence to changing authority, new laws, and the need to confirm older settlement permissions.
• Government levels: distinguish the roles of Mexico City, the state government in Saltillo, and officials working in Texas.
• The empresario system: explain how contracts, organizers, surveyors, commissioners, clerks, settlers, and land titles worked together.
• Historical figures and communities: compare Stephen F. Austin and San Felipe with Martín de León and Victoria without treating either colony as the model for every Texas settlement.
• Maps and source limits: use river locations, town evidence, broad historical maps, surveys, and land titles while identifying what each source can and cannot prove.
• Cause and effect: trace how policy encouraged migration, farming, ranching, trade, recordkeeping, and town growth.
• Multiple perspectives: evaluate opportunity alongside pressure on Indigenous homelands, boundary conflicts, unequal experiences, and enslaved labor in Austin’s colony.

The five-day week

• Day 1: Dynamic History Stops 1–3 — Mexican independence reaches Texas, national and state government roles, and Stephen F. Austin’s colony headquarters at San Felipe.
• Day 2: Dynamic History Stops 4–6 — Martín de León and Victoria, an Austin–de León evidence comparison, and the chain from policy to community change.
• Day 3: What Is an Empresario? Empresario Series Part 1 video evidence worksheet focused on the Austin contract transition, colonization laws, surveyors, and land titles.
• Day 4: The Empresario System in Texas (1821–1835) Readers Theater with performance guidance, discussion, and a complete follow-up assessment.
• Day 5: evidence-based discussion, review, and a complete standalone final assessment.

What’s included

• Dynamic History interactive module access with 6 guided stops and 24 auto-graded tasks.
• Stop-scoped clickable map evidence, river and town comparisons, historical images, Standard and Accessible reading paths, and source-limit reasoning.
• 19-page Standard and 22-page Accessible print-module companions with equivalent learning targets for classrooms that need a paper option.
• 29-page all-in-one Teacher Guide and Answer Key with week-at-a-glance planning, substitute-ready daily lesson plans, Days 1–2 Dynamic History guidance, differentiation, Readers Theater support, and complete assessment keys.
• Three-page Day 3 What Is an Empresario? video evidence worksheet with a transcript fallback.
• Nine-page Day 4 Readers Theater Student Script with 10 scenes and 13 speaking roles.
• Day 3 assessment with 10 vocabulary terms, 10 short-answer questions, 5 challenge questions, and a 20-question multiple-choice quiz.
• Day 4 Readers Theater assessment with 10 vocabulary terms, 10 short-answer questions, 5 challenge questions, and a 20-question multiple-choice quiz.
• Day 5 final assessment with 10 vocabulary terms, 10 short-answer questions, 5 challenge questions, and a 20-question multiple-choice quiz.
• Printable student worksheets and multiple-choice quiz versions for the Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5 assessments.
• Self-grading Google Forms and Google Slides worksheet versions for the Day 3, Day 4, and Day 5 assessments through the shared classroom folder.
• Complete model answers, direct answer keys, standards alignment, discussion guidance, classroom map support, and performance guidance inside the single weekly Teacher Guide.

Google-native files note: Google Forms, Google Slides, and other cloud-native assessment files are provided through the shared Google folder and do not appear as reusable files inside a normal desktop ZIP download.

Built for flexible classrooms

Use the complete five-day sequence, shorten the week by selecting one assessment format, or use the Standard and Accessible print modules when devices are limited. Both reading paths teach the same assessed ideas, so students can work at different reading levels without being assigned different learning targets.

Assessment options

The Dynamic History module uses 24 guided, auto-graded formative tasks across Days 1–2. The Day 3 video assessment, Day 4 Readers Theater assessment, and Day 5 final assessment remain separate so teachers can choose the mix of map evidence, source analysis, performance, written response, challenge questions, printable multiple choice, and self-grading Google Forms that fits their classroom.

Best fit

Designed for Grade 4 Texas Social Studies and aligned to Week 7 learning targets for Mexican independence, Mexican Texas government, colonization laws, empresarios, Stephen F. Austin, Martín de León, San Felipe, Victoria, geography, land records, historical evidence, economic motivations, cause and effect, and multiple perspectives. This resource works well for whole-class instruction, partner work, independent practice, social studies centers, substitute plans, review, and blended print/digital classrooms.

Technology note: Dynamic History and Google-native assessment files require internet access. The Standard and Accessible print modules, video evidence worksheet with transcript fallback, Readers Theater script, and printable assessment versions provide substantial offline alternatives for the week.